In days long past a woman set forth to seek a jewel of great worth.
She wandered across deserts and rivers, over mountains and through silent forests,
asking in every village and palace where the treasure might be found.
Years passed.
Weary and broken in spirit, she turned her steps homeward.
And there, as she cast aside her tattered cloak,
her hand brushed against a secret seam.
Within the lining of her garment, long forgotten,
the jewel lay hidden — radiant and whole.
Thus it is with the truth: not found in distant lands nor bestowed by others,
but carried quietly within us from the beginning,
waiting only for our eyes to see.
